


Let's Run

by KnifeBinaryPrince



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Assassin Keith (Voltron), Comfort, Druid Lance (Voltron), First Kiss, Fluff, Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M, Treason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-26 06:23:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16676251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnifeBinaryPrince/pseuds/KnifeBinaryPrince
Summary: It was after a mission had gone a little awry, leaving Keith with far more injuries than normal. He’d gotten into the ship and as it took off his druid appeared beside him, masked face tilting to the side, hood billowing out more on one side than the other.“You look like shit.”The voice had been raspy and deep, most likely from disuse.Keith had never laughed so hard in his life.





	Let's Run

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to play around with Galra shit I guess? Like druids and commanders and stuff.
> 
> Don't like how we have more info on the power dynamics and ranks of the bad guys than the good guys but given the show and the people behind it I can't say I'm surprised.
> 
> This was just me playing around and stuff, nothing too deep.

Keith rolled out of the way of the oncoming blade just in time, hissing slightly when the very edge cut into a gap in his armor, leaving a small cut just under his ribs. Nothing too life threatening to cause concern over now, but his suit was ripped and he just got it fixed.

 

 _ _He__  was going to give him shit for that.

 

He was unable to think on it as he dodged another attack by the Galran commander, he larger throwing their weaponized arm out to try and claw at his sides. It was barely a tick later before they turned and attacked again keeping the assassin constantly on his toes. The commander lunged for him again, Keith ducking down and just missing the bladed claws grazing his cheek. He could actually feel the air come off in a hiss against his skin.

 

If he’d been paying attention he would have noticed he had been moving the way the Galran commander wanted, backed into a corner more or less with nowhere to go.

 

The commander raised their arm, a triumphant, fanged grin on their face as they looked down at him, preparing to lay down a final blow against him with a sick gleam in their eyes.

 

Suddenly everything went still and quiet, the only sound a crackling hiss and a sick, thud that reverberated through the air of the hangar they were in.

 

Keith’s eyes focused on the shard of pure energy that had pierced through the commander’s back and had come out through their chest, the smell of burning flesh and blood filling the air. They stumbled back a step or two, arm falling from their side and hitting their armor with a metallic clang that echoed sharply through the air. The sound caused Keith to wince, his ears flattening against his head at such a sound, eyes never once leaving the commander’s body as they fell back dead.

 

The assassin looked up, eyes dragging from the body to the cloaked figure behind it. Purple cloth, looking heavy yet light as air at the same time, sleeves draped across an arm that still stood raised up, the barest hint of energy fizzling and crackling from their hand as it receded and dimmed into nothing against their fingertips.

 

The cloaked figure looked at him from behind their mask, breathing calm and steady. The design scrawled into it was one that he was very much familiar with and recognized well, letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding he got up on both feet and walked forward past the body of the fallen commander.

 

They didn’t offer to help, or at least not how they usually did. They’d usually offer a hand at least but at the moment they just watched, looking to make sure he could still stand and walk properly before they turned and made their way towards the ship. Not once ever looking back.

 

The silence was heavy and suffocating between them.

 

Or maybe it was just Keith that felt it as such.

 

The ride back to the Empire outpost was silent, having tended to his wounds earlier Keith now sat in the pilot’s seat, trying to find some way to break the silence but every time he opened his mouth nothing would come out. But he did manage.

 

“You’re mad at me.” It wasn’t a question, but a fact.

 

The druid said nothing for a moment, still hovering above the ground in their silent, unsettling way.

 

After a few ticks they moved towards him until they were right in front of where he sat. Keith kept his head down, hair brushing against his eyes. His line of sight was only able to show him the floating cloak of purple with gold insignias and sigils threaded through the fabric.

 

An unusually warm hand cupped his right cheek, and Keith melted into the touch, leaning into it shamelessly. It made his heart flutter at the fact that he had warmed his hand just for this. Because of the magic used druids usually ran colder than anything else, as cold as ice sometimes. The essence of the magic was draining and left nothing warm behind. Only a biting cold that sunk it’s teeth into flesh and bone and refused to leave.

 

“You’re distracted.”

 

The voice was breathy through the mask, echoing through the chill silence like the blade that nearly caught his middle just an hour earlier.

 

“Why?” He spoke again, masked head tilting to the side questioningly as he awaited an answer of some sort.

 

The same nervous silence continued for a few ticks, Keith worrying his bottom lip between his fangs as he struggled with his answer, unsure of how to go about saying what he wanted, his thoughts going back to their first years together.

 

* * *

 

As far as he knew Lance’s ties and loyalty with the Empire were purely circumstantial, brought in by slavers who went from planet to planet and captured unlucky souls that had wandered too far from home, hoping to make a profit and caring about nothing else. He’d been one of the unlucky ones, stolen from his home and brought to Haggar after a few choice incidents happened, the nature of which he was still clueless to. He didn’t press about it, over time he’d learned it would do nothing but drive Lance away. That and he could understand that some memories were best left as memories.

 

He had more than his own fair share of his own that he’d rather keep as just memories.

 

The bright druid had been one of Haggar’s aspiring students and her favoritism showed given the privileges he was allowed that other druids couldn’t even dream of having. He’d shown exceptional skill with ranged spells and was always at her side. Everyone in the Empire knew him by mask alone and knew to keep clear and show proper respect.

 

As far as Keith knew Lance had never lashed out at anyone who did disrespect him, they were usually dealt with by Haggar instead.

 

It was when Lance was assigned as Keith’s ward that he stood frozen, speechless really when it was announced by Haggar herself.

 

While he was one of the Empire’s top assassins he didn’t feel as though he was deserving of a ward, especially one of Lance’s caliber. Whispers and rumors spread through the ranks, all that Keith pointedly ignored for a better part of a year, those same whispers dying down quickly enough with the druid shadowing him every tick of the day. He’d found it annoying at first, but he got used to it pretty quick, it wasn’t like they spoke much anyways.

 

A year and a half into their…partnership of sorts and Lance had finally spoken.

 

It was after a mission had gone a little awry, leaving Keith with far more injuries than normal. He’d gotten into the ship and as it took off his druid appeared beside him, masked face tilting to the side, hood billowing out more on one side than the other.

 

“You look like shit.”

 

The voice had been raspy and deep, most likely from disuse.

 

Keith had never laughed so hard in his life.

 

From then on their friendship had only grown from there, although filled with bickering and banter more than anything, it was an easy pattern to fall into, the motions becoming familiar enough an early insult soon became a soft endearment between the two of them.

 

Four years having passed and nearly onto the fifth and nothing had really changed.

 

Even if Keith so badly wanted it to.

 

Keith had found out a year or two ago Lance was touchy to put it mildly. He had a weird thing with touch, where certain fabrics felt ugly and he couldn’t bear the feeling.

 

That was probably why he’d been eyeing Keith’s ears for the longest.

 

At first it was just a prickling sensation of being watched, the feeling of eyes boring into the back of his head. But when he’d turn to look Lance was either turned away or not there at all. And Keith would admit he was a bit miffed by this.

 

It came to a head after one of their missions, the ship on autopilot as they traveled through space to their next destination.

 

Keith was seated in the pilot’s seat, eyes roaming over the controls and displays with practiced motions, going through the memorized routine of checks and system scans, the prickling sensation of being watched causing the hairs on the back of his neck to raise.

 

After weeks of this he finally got fed up, with a growl that left his throat he turned towards the other, fangs bared and ears up.

 

“What’s your problem?!” The question left him in the same growl, eyes intense as he glared at the masked druid, who had jumped in surprise at his outburst, head raised in a way that he seemed to question what his outburst was towards.

 

“You keep staring at me. So either tell me what your problem is or quit it.” Keith bit out, not expecting any sort of answer.

 

Instead he watched as the druid lifted a hand up, fingers curled loosely towards his palm. He carefully raised his hand towards Keith’s head, the other staying still and unwavering, years of training keeping him from flinching back as he watched and waited for whatever it was the druid was going to do.

 

That and the fact that Lance was ordered not to kill him helped too.

 

And yeah maybe the slight crush on him helped more than the reassurance he couldn’t kill him but he would die before he admitted that.

 

What he got was a warm hand settling upon his head, fingers tentatively threading through thick, dark, locks of hair. Claws scratched slowly around the base of his ears, the pads of his fingers pressing delicately into the skin and rubbing out any sore spots in the muscles.

 

Keith stayed still, surprise being an understatement to describe the mix of feelings and thoughts processing through his mind. His heart beat wildly in his chest, cheeks growing warm and the inside of his chest feeling light as Lance continued his ministrations. A deep rumble of a sound grew through him, light and unnoticeable at first. It didn’t last long, the low thrum of sound turning into a full out purr that rolled through his chest and out of his throat in a patterned rhythm.

 

He might have felt embarrassed if he actually cared, but as it was he couldn't find it in himself to pay it any mind, his focus solely on the fingers that scratched and threaded across his scalp and around his ears.

 

“Your ears __are__ soft.” Lance spoke softly, barely a whisper coming from behind the mask as he did so.

 

Keith huffed, equal parts amused and disgruntled as being referred to as soft. Though no one would be able to tell given as he was steadily leaning into the touch, the left side of his face coming to rest on Lance’s cloak covered torso.

 

And that incident signaled the turning point in their relationship; lingering touches and small affections peppered into their daily routine, a few conversations thrown in as well. The majority of them a mix of random topics and deep thoughts in a variety unique to them.

 

* * *

 

Which continued to now, Keith’s eyes lowered to keep from looking at Lance directly, nervousness projected in every part of him, including his ears.

 

“I don’t want to die like this.” Keith spoke softly, leaning more into Lance’s touch, hoping he wouldn’t have to explain himself further.

 

He didn’t have to.

 

Lance pulled him close until he could wrap his arms comfortably over and around Keith’s head, fingers lightly caressing his ears as he held him.

 

Keith reciprocated the gesture, claws bunching the loose fabric in a tight grip at the others back.

 

The sound of metal tearing and the hiss and crackle of electricity made Keith look up from his comfortable position, seeing a portion of the control panel of the ship burnt up and smoking still. Not enough to warrant they’d be in any danger, but enough that he knew the tracking chip and relay device to contact the outpost and any other Empire driven fleet were next to none.

 

“What-”

 

“You think Dagran would be nice this time of year?” Lance said out of the blue, throwing Keith completely off guard with the question.

 

“What?” He repeated dumbly, sitting up from the warmth his arms and body provided to take a look at the druid.

 

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

 

Lance had taken off his mask. How Keith didn’t know, never having seen any druid without their mask nor having an knowledge that they could take it off. Rumors having spread that the masks were their faces and thus could not separate.

 

But it was clear as day that they were just that, rumors.

 

His skin brown, a shade or two lighter than his dark brown hair, bright blue eyes looking every bit as angelic on the person they belonged to. Despite the scrawling tattoos the druids had etched into the skin of his cheeks he was still as handsome as ever, causing Keith to lose his train of thought and any knowledge of language soon after.

 

“Hello? Earth to Keith? You there?”

 

“We’re in space.” Keith responded, furrowing his brow as he frowned at the phrase.

 

Lance did nothing tilt his head back and laugh, the sound spilling from his lips like warm heat. Such a sound caused Keith’s ears to flutter with interest. Lance’s voice and laugh sounded a lot better without the mask there to obstruct it from his hearing.

 

“That’s what you choose to focus on? Unbelievable. I was asking if you waned to go to Dagran, I hear the current season is nice around this time of year. OR maybe we could go to Phylselkye, they have tasty sweet rolls at the capital festivals.” Lance spoke, looking off to the side at nothing in particular as he muttered off the names of various planets t=and cities within them that would be good to go to.

 

“You mean go to? Like in live?” Keith asked, voice still sounding dumb and unsure.

 

“Well not live, unless it’s really nice of course, but we could travel around and see the rest of the universe with all this,” He waved his hand through the air in a nonchalant manner, motioning to the unseen like the war and their forced alliances with the Empire, “War and stuff going on. We can just take a break you know?” He finished, looking down at Keith with a hopeful smile on his face, searching for an answer.

 

He didn’t have to search for long.

 

Keith bunched up his hand in the front of Lance’s cloak, the other letting out a small yelp of surprise he was sure to deny happened later as Keith pulled him down for a kiss. Because of the way they were positioned before with Keith sitting and Lance standing in front of him, the human druid was pulled into the assassin’s lap.

 

The kiss was soft but held a certain fire to it that only Keith could put into a kiss.

 

He had a reputation for adding fire to his work.

 

And the kiss was no different, he held Lance securely, arms wrapped snugly around the others waist like he was afraid the other might pull back and he’d open his eyes to a dream.

 

Keith would deny until his dying day the sound he made when Lance ran his hands up through his hair, fingers carding through the dark locks to rest at the base of his ears, fingernails gently scratching at the soft skin.

 

He wouldn’t deny however, that the soft sound of Lance laughing at his own sound caused his heart to beat just a bit faster and the love he already had for him present had grown.

 

“Now that’s a yes if I ever saw one.”

 

Keith agreed.


End file.
